No concerns from Haverhill Rovers management despite loss of another top scorer to higher-league club

Haverhill Rovers joint-manager Dario Seminerio has admitted that the loss of striker Mark Lovell to Soham Town Rangers is a ‘big loss’, but refuses to worry about his side’s future goal count.

The 32-year-old forward, who has netted six times for the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division since moving from Kershaw Premier champions West Wratting in the summer, accepted a step up to the Bostik League North Division club this week.

Lovell said: “If I was younger I would love to try and progress with Rovers as I feel they’ve got everything in place to move forward. But time is against me so I had to take the opportunity.

“I have no concerns about them losing goals, I certainly wasn’t a goal scorer as such for them. And the under-18s look very impressive to me and Dario is perfect for them to progress. The club is in good hands and will definitely keep moving forward.

“The support at the club has been amazing and lots of people do a lot of hard work behind the scenes which is why I feel they will keep moving up.”

He is the latest in a line of departing Rovers top scorers this season, as the fourth player to leave the club having achieved the rank of club top scorer for the season.

Rovers have lost the players who have, combined, scored 30 times for the Step 5 team in all competitions this season – more than 60 per cent of the team’s goals.

But Seminerio, who joint-manages alongside former QPR player Stuart Wardley, said: “Of course Mark is a big loss. He was an important player for us, but we are working on finding ways to attack differently.

“I’m not worried, it’s my job to deal with these situations and to find new ways of playing when options disappear.

“We still have strikers with Graeme Turner, Sam Bennett and Jamie Judge too. Sam will take a few games to find how to score at this level but I expect him to easily adapt soon.

“It’s simple though, if I start to worry about it then the team will lose confidence – and we have lots to be confident about right now.”

The side lying in 10th place have picked up four points from the last six on offer in the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division, despite facing the teams in fourth and fifth, with a 1-0 away victory at Walsham-le-Willows on Saturday.

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Seminerio said that his side are ‘just getting better and better’ but their run of fixtures remains tough for weeks to come, with a trip to third-placed Godmanchester Rovers this Friday evening (7.45pm) followed by the rescheduled game at FC Clacton – postponed from February 9 – on Tuesday (7.45pm).

“There’s no big secret,” Seminerio said. “We have been working very hard and focusing on being solid in defence. And it’s already been paid back with four points in the last two games and without conceding, which is fantastic.

“We are very confident and positive as a squad right now.

“I think, if we stay compact and work hard, then we can get points from Goddy. It will test us, as they play quite quickly and can counter-attack at speed, but we have the ability to deal with that.

“The game is so important to how our next little run goes, but at the minute, we are on winning form.”

The first half saw few chances for either side although the hosts came closest. Haverhill hearts were then in their mouths on 73 minutes, when Sam Peters’ 25-yard effort hit the post, but the visitors survived the scare.

Although Rovers’ shots were few and far between, they were the team to break the deadlock in the 80th minute, with a score from substitute Jamie Judge.

Seminerio added that the game ended with seven players under 19 years old in a Rovers shirt.